An entire family is forced into indentured servitude with no hope of freedom. Now it is up to the youngest, smallest sibling to free them and stop the corrupt baron from enslaving all children.

Recommended Age

Minimum Age

Available On...

8

6

PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Linux

Overall Fun

Length

Frustration

Violence

Sexuality

Substances

Gambling

7

3

2

2

1

1

0

Mods

Religion

Anti-Law

Community

Sports

Magic

Miscellaneous

0

0

0

0

1

1

2

1. Gameplay

Overall Fun - 7

Part of the fun in writing these reviews is having an excuse to try something completely different. While it is still difficult for me to venture away from my comfort zone (shooters and RPGs), on rare occasions I get to try something where I have zero idea what to expect. Stacking is a game where, up until I hit “new game” I literally knew nothing about how it would work or how fun it would be.

I’m glad I gave it a chance.

It's the 1900s line of Playskool toys!

This is a game designed for children (as most of the games made by Double Fine are). People in Stacking’s world are those Russian egg doll things (Wikipedia calls them “Matryoshka Dolls”) where a bunch of different sized dolls all nest in each other. The player takes control of the smallest doll and uses him to complete puzzles and challenges. The only ability the player inherently has is the ability to “stack” himself into other characters of the next larger size.

Three characters, three sizes, three abilities.

If these were real people, this process would be ridiculously creepy, since the player is essentially infesting other characters and using them like puppets to do his bidding. However, this is a children’s game and the characters are all Russian egg dolls, so fortunately it actually comes off as endearing (provided one doesn’t try to mentally replace the characters with people).

It's still just a little bit creepy.

All of the challenges and puzzles in this game are very simple and the game gives plenty of leniency in solving everything. There are always at least three different solutions for each challenge, ranging from the very obvious to the much more subtle. Regardless, this is the perfect kind of game for young children. Older audiences would probably get bored after a few hours of play, but the younger generations less thirsty for action and excitement will definitely find this amusing.

Length - 3

This game is very short. I managed to complete every challenge in every mission in around 5 hours. There were still other things left to go back and do, as well as a DLC mission, but this game gets a bit old after five straight hours of play. I could see where a child would enjoy replaying this game a few times and where a child would take longer to solve the puzzles, but I don’t see this game lasting more than 10 hours for the average player.

Frustration Factor - 2

If the player is simply trying to complete each challenge using one possible method, this game will be extremely easy. It’s designed for children, after all. However, some of the alternative methods weren’t entirely clear to me without help. For example, in one section the player has to use a character to make a statue disappear against an argyle background. Without noticing the background, though, the player is unable to figure out what to do. Fortunately, the game has a well-designed “hint” system that can help the player figure out what they’re missing.

2. Parental Notices

Violence - 2

Violence is very rare in this game. Some characters are able to give others wedgies, pound them with abnormally large hammers, or give belly bumps. These will have comedic effects on other characters.

Boink!

The only times when violence becomes more obvious is if it is an option to complete a challenge. These are still mild, though. For example, one enemy is afraid of light. So the player can take a character with a candle on his head, place him near the enemy, and have another character fart on the candle character. The flame ignites the gas and causes a rather large explosion. The enemy may or may not catch on fire because of this effect. Even if he does, it’s extremely brief and only one possible way to approach the situation.

Smelliest toast ever.

Any other example of violence are along this same line.

Sexuality - 1

One of the characters, named “The Widow Chastity” is able to “seduce” male characters. She basically just shakes what would be her hips and the men follow her around. Hearts either come from her or from them. There’s an in-game challenge to have three men follow her at once.

Woah woah woah woah woah. What?

Substances - 1

One of the character types smokes from a pipe. This was the only example of substances in the game.

I don't think it's legal to wear a monocle without smoking a pipe.

Gambling - 0

Gambling is not a factor in this game.

3. Other Factors

Mods - 0

There are no modding tools available for this game.

Religion - 0

Religion is not a factor in this game.

Anti-Law - 0

While there are mentions of “authorities”, they are never present in this game. As a result, anti-law is not a factor in this game.

Online Community - 0

There are no multiplayer elements to this game.

Extreme Sports - 1

In some sections the player can do some random, character-specific actions that could be seen as extreme sports. The most obvious is being able to zipline between two giant zeppelins as they are in flight.

I would complain about the lack of handrails, but really I should complain about the lack of hands.

Magic - 1

One character set is able to perform various illusions. This is basically like real “magic”, but with less explanation and more interesting effects. The daughter is able to levitate, the mother can turn invisible, and the father can turn anyone into argyle temporarily. This was the only time magic was present in the game.

I didn't even know what argyle was until this game.

Miscellaneous - 2

Child Labor Child labor is one of the main themes in this game. Every mission will involve the player freeing children from slave labor. Usually this is some sort of a comedic twist on a historically accurate job. For example, children scrubbing out the steam vents on a cruise ship with tooth brushes. Or children mining for coal because the adult laborers are on strike. While those who understand the true, horrible nature of these jobs and their effects on people of any age, the target audience of this game will simply find it to be a funny joke with just enough seriousness to convey motivation effectively.

Slavery As with child labor, slavery is also an issue. Most of the time these two go hand-in-hand in this game, but there are times when adults are put into slavery as well. However, these are few and far between.